Juneau School Board to reconsider travel ban

The Juneau School Board promised Tuesday to consider an alternative plan to banning middle school sports travel if certain conditions are met.

Barbara Thurston introduced the idea during the final segment of a meeting that had already lasted over five hours, so little time was taken to go over the specifics.

In short, the public must form a diverse committee and come up with an alternative plan to present to the board by the March meeting. The plan would then be “considered” during either the April or May meetings.

“[It’s] simply a commitment we won’t blow you off if you do all the work beforehand,” Thurston said of the proposal.

Board Vice-president Sean O’Brien emphasized that no school board resources or staff would be devoted to the project, adding that developing a suitable plan without such resources would be difficult.

Another board member, Phyllis Carlson, said she had concerns with readdressing past issues after a decision had been made.

“Part of our ethics is when we make a decision on the board level we move on and don’t look back,” Carlson said.

The move is in response to an abundance of community contact urging the board to consider alternatives, Thurston said.